General

Compiled by:
John Deck, University of California, Santa Cruz
Mary Tsui, Land Systems Group, Monterey, California

Who has time to re-invent the wheel?

If you developed a document that worked well for you, consider sharing it with your fellow URISA members.

In this space, we'll collect sample RFPs, data sharing agreements, policy documents and more.

Want to contribute a model or sample to the collective pool? Email files to info@urisa.org with a few details noted (Title, Description, Organization, Contact).

URISA, through its international and local chapter network, reaches at least 8,000 spatial information management professionals.

Getting and staying connected is key to our members' professional development and URISA Chapters provide the important local connection.

Harvard Lab for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis

The Harvard Lab for Computer Graphics (reorganized as the Harvard Lab for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis in 1968) was one of several sites in the early development of GIS where seminal innovations in the processing and display of geographically referenced data took place.  Many of the present generation of GIS professionals first experienced computer cartography through the widely distributed automated mapping application SYMAP, completed at the lab in 1966.  SYM

Jack Dangermond, President of Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), is recognized as a pioneer in spatial analysis methods and one of the founding fathers of GIS technology. He is also considered to be one of the most influential people in GIS.

In the early 1990s, Nancy Tosta was the Staff Director to the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior, with responsibilities for conceptualizing and initiating the U.S.

Arguably, Ian McHarg’s 1969 landmark book Design With Nature has had a greater influence on the development and application of Geographic Information Systems than any other single event in GIS history.  "McHarg's Method" describes how, thorough and multidisciplinary analysis of a region's ecological sensitivity, different information can be layered and combined geographically to identify suitability for different types of development and use.

By Kenneth J. Dueker
Emeritus Professor of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University

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You can be an author or coordinating editor too! Perhaps you have an idea for publication that would be of interest to professionals involved in information technology and its application in urban and regional environments. Topics of interest may include IT or GIS planning and policy issues, technology or industry trends, specific IT or GIS applications, IT or GIS training, IT or GIS design, etc. We are looking for contributors to the Newsletter, the Journal, and authors of special publications.